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No central Ohio company has more experience than Nationwide in dealing with the powerful
hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms and earthquakes that have battered the U.S. in the past few
years.

But despite the massive size of superstorm Sandy, which hit the East Coast last night, the
insurer prepared the same way it has for other big storms in recent years.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past several years. We’re as prepared as we can be,” said
Eliz-abeth Stelzer, a Nationwide spokeswoman.

“This is what we train for all year round. We’re constantly analyzing our processing and seeing
what we can do to improve.”

Sandy collided with a cold front moving east, creating a superstorm of wind, rain, snow and ice
that will affect tens of millions of people from New England to the Midwest.

Nationwide said yesterday that its national catastrophe units had arrived in Pittsburgh to be
deployed to the areas where the company’s policyholders need them most.

“We’re really just monitoring Sandy,” she said yesterday. “We have all our people ready to go,
and we’ll move in as soon as we can.”

Other Columbus-based insurers said yesterday that their preparations, like those of Nationwide,
have been consistent with those for other storms.

“It’s really our standard response for these types of situations,” State Auto Financial
spokesman Kyle Anderson said. “It doesn’t appear to be a standard storm by any means.”

“As the frequency of severe weather has increased across our region, unprecedented catastrophic
wind and hail events have become a common occurrence over the last five years,” said Todd Long,
spokesman for Motorists Insurance.

The advantage that hurricanes give insurers is that the companies typically have several days to
get ready. Still, a storm can be unpredictable, sometimes moving faster or slower than expected or
changing direction at the last minute.

“That’s why you have to be prepared within an entire area,” Stelzer said.

Local Nationwide agents and claims specialists in the areas where Sandy hits will be the first
responders for Nationwide as claims come in. That will help guide where the catastrophe teams
should head and then they will head to other regions as necessary, she said.

State Auto has dispatched its catastrophe unit to Maryland, and Grange said its team is ready to
deploy to affected areas.